the gifted one
by erato-angelus
Summary: The greek goddesses, the Muses give birth to a single child. The child is spirited away, when evil lurks in the corners of every turn. She must fight for her life and everything else that is important in her life. HELP ME PEOPLE! message me some ideas!
1. prologue

Prologue

In the beginning, there was Gaia (mother Earth) and her son, Uranus (Lord of the sky). Although Uranus was Gaia's child, she had children with him. Their children were called Titan/esses. Some of the most important ones in this story of time were Mnemosyne (memory), Rhea and Cronus. Again, interbreeding was common and Rhea had many children with Cronus. One of their most important children was Zeus…but this takes place long before he was King if the Olympians.

Zeus and Mnemosyne has children together, their children were called the Muses. These Muses were one of the first Olympian goddesses. These beautiful goddesses' names were: Calliope (muse of epic poetry); Clio (muse of history); Poylhymnia (muse of mime); Euterpe (of the flute); Terpsichore (of light verse and dance); Erato (of lyrical love poetry); Melpomene (of tragedy); Thalia (of comedy) and Urania (of astronomy).

These goddesses were the source of inspiration to artists, writers and musicians. They originally brought song and such to the world, which was lonely and unhappy before. They were very important. They were assumed to be virgins living near the "edge of the woods". They were worshipped regularly and in fact, not all of them were virgins. They were allowed to be non-virgins, but the one thing they must not do..is bear-child. If they did this, they would no longer be goddesses.

Their over-seer was Apollo, the god of archery, light, music, prophecy and medicine. He was associated with light in such a large form, that he later became the god of the sun. Every hundred years or so, a human female would be chosen to be the Oracle, or the Seer. Apollo was in charge of this, and this is why he was in charge of the Muses. The Muses had to do with everything past, present and future.


	2. into the woods

Into the woods

"Clio sister, what brings dear Apollo so late to our clearing?" asked Euterpe in a sing-song voice.

" I don't know" sighed Clio. "I am the muse of _history_ not of the future" she grumbled.

"He will be here in no time", assured Erato. " he is always a bit late, he thinks it makes him fancier" she declared while winking. "personally I don't think it works, but then again, we should let him believe what he wants".

Actually, Apollo was only a little while away, stalking through the woods in anger, he had just had ANOTHER run in with Ares. _Gosh Ares needs some light in his life, he's always such an old worry-wart, _Apollo thought.

Whipping around, he scanned the bushes, for he had just heard something moving around. Perhaps it was Thalia, playing a joke on him like she always does.

A little ways off, Eros (Cupid), cursed silently. _Stepping on twigs, very nice I should be more careful…I feel in the mood for playing some tricks on Apollo, he's always so fun to test my arrows on._ Stringing an arrow onto his bow, he turned invisible and walked closer to Apollo, who was tamping through the woods like a hippo. Releasing his bow, he silently enjoyed when the arrows hit his victims, enjoying their reaction. _OH SCORE FOR ME I hit him in the buttocks! YEAH. _He exclaimed while prancing around like he was a child.

Rubbing his buttocks, Apollo looked around in confusion._ Must've been a bee or some other gun-fuddled creature in these woods. Oh wow I feel strange…._ Hearing beautiful voices in the distance, Apollo hurried through the bushes and trees, desperate to reach his goal.

Reaching a small clearing in the woods, Apollo halted.

"APOLLO" cried all the beautiful maidens. " You have come at last! What took you so long?" they greeted the handsome golden-haired god with joy.

Ignoring their voices, he focused on their faces, falling in love with each of them in turn. (usually Eros's arrows make you fall in love with the first person you see, but since the Muses were goddesses, he fell in love with all of them because they looked so much alike).

Advancing on the women slowly, he turned into a beam of blinding light. The Muses screamed and tried to hide, confused because Apollo did not seem to recognize them!


	3. tears of joy

Tears of joy

Sitting up slowly, the Muses looked around cautiously. What had happened? Gasping as one, they clutched their stomachs. How had this happened? They were impregnated! One by one they began to remember what had happened. Most just remembered a blinding white light before they passed out. Terpsichore realized that Apollo had entered their minds, causing them to think happy thoughts and thus the baby was created.

Little time, the Muses had, because when a goddess is pregnant with a child, the child is born in a short time, due to the lack of mortality. Realizing that if they did not find a way to get the children out of their stomach, they would all become mortals, their immortality would be stripped because they had sworn on the River Styx that they would not have children.

" We are doomed! We will no longer be beautiful goddesses! We will wither and die!" cried Melpomene.

"Oh be quiet you're always so melodramatic, everything will be alright" snapped Calliope. "The stars say we will remain gods, but we will need some help", declared Urania breathily.

"What will we do? Who do we ask for help? Erato, you're the one who is most in touch with love and such, how do we fix this problem?" shouted all. " I DON'T KNOW" shouted Erato. "DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE?".

" Oh pray to Zeus I think I might so crazy if all of you all don't SHUTUP. Sisters, make an offering to Iris (goddess of messages). Send this message to Mount Olympus..we need Artemis, Hera and Persephone, fast". Calliope demanded, (she was sort of the leader in the group).

Shortly thereafter the message was sent, puffs of pink glitter spread throughout the clearing, signaling Hera had arrived. Dressed smartly in a cocktail dress and classy high-heels, Hera looked the part of the Queen of Olympus, there was no doubt about it. Her blonde hair was twisted high above her head in a eighteenth-century fashion with diamond studs on her nails.

Appearing behind her in a less-formal fashion, Persephone arrived, wearing a simple Grecian gown, with golden snakes wrapped around her upper-arms. This goddess actually looked sort of fearsome, not at all like the goddess of _flowers. _

Last, but not least came Artemis, astride a great and large silver wolf. Clothed in light, silky white robes, she was the perfect example of feminine grace, poise and strength. Her dark brown hair cascaded over her shoulders, falling in waves.

Sliding off of her wolf, she whispered "Talla, you know what must be done". Slipping away quietly, the she-wolf disappeared into the brush and was gone in the blink of an eye.

" What is the problem here? I constantly am being called on by mortals, who have no idea what they are doing by the way, and I have to tell them off for being careless."

Looking around at each other in wariness, the Muses were hesitating to speak in fear of angering the Queen. "W-we have a slight..problem Hera..it seems that we are..going to have children?" ,stuttered Euterpe in a questioning voice, almost as if she didn't believe it herself. Shifting from foot to foot, restlessly, they waited for the verbal abuse.

"Well then, I guess you won't be goddesses anymore! That settles it..we'll just have to find mortal replacements" _Oh not now, I can't find replacements..that's actually impossible..hmmm..what can we do…_feigning boredom, Hera picked at her nails while contemplating the situation.

"You CAN'T just stand there and act like it's NOTHING, we can't have this happening! The world will be dark once more no inspiration, music, poetry, nothing! Oh OH YOU MISSY act like you're the only important one!" yelled Artemis, her dangerous side beginning to show. Her features took on a dangerous edge. Artemis was not afraid of Hera, after all, they were both immortal what could happen?

"Calm down little-pink-princess", retorted Hera. "We'll figure it out geesh don't worry."

"Fine whatever you say oh my great Queen." _I am going to get her one of these days, I have still never forgiven her for trying to murder me and my brother [Apollo] when we were born. She's just jealous because she can't have Zeus to herself. This will have to be done by me, I am the goddess of childbirth._ "The child will be my niece, from what I have already gathered, Apollo is the father, (who else could it be), and I want my niece to be taken care of. Now, I have a suggestion. With Hera's help of course, we could extract the child from all of your stomachs and combine it into one child, this would only work of course if all the children inside your wombs were of one sex. The problem is what to do after that".

Persephone, who had been watching silently spoke up, " I could make a flower..that could hold the child until she is ready to blossom. The child will grow like a mortal, but reaching the young age of 16, she will stop growing and will become a full goddess, this will be due to multiple godly parents."

"Will is hurt the child? We all ready know that all of our children are females, there are no males children within us" asked Melpomene. All of the Muses had all ready become quite attached to the child within.

"it will not hurt you, nor them, but first, we must consult my irresponsible brother..APOOOOOLLO GET YOUR SORRY ARSE IN HERE", Artemis shouted.

POP. "Sheesh you don't have to yell sis…whoah why..and you..and her..and them..and WHAT? Why are all of you pregnant? Apollo demanded.

"That's what we would like to know" sighed Hera. "it seems that this is all your fault, and thus you must fix the mistake".

"My fault? What are you talking about you deranged woman! I nev.e..r…oh dear" _for the love of Zeus's lightning bolt…they're right it IS my fault..I impregnated them. Oh well I will do everything in my power to help…but I could've sworn I never.._

"Hmph" Artemis looked at Apollo pointedly. "Do you see now? It is your fault! All fo these goddesses are pregnant..because of you, if they lose their immorality, it'll be on you when the world comes falling down all depressed-like. Anywho, while you were..away, we figured out a plan. We are going to extract the children from their stomachs, combine them into one child, who will have all of their gifts (including yours), and put the female child into Persephone's flower, where the child will stay for a couple of days until she will "blossom"

Looking slightly unnerved, Apollo agreed. He would do anything possible to help. "Then let's start girlies, we got ourselves a child to make.

Artemis instructed the Muses to lay in a circle, feet facing the inside of the circle. They did so, and Artemis began to chant in ancient Greek. Not daring to look, the Muses closed their eyes, but felt a soft, pulling sensation on their stomachs. Looking up at once, they saw an..almost spirit-like thing floating in the air, where it became solid and was encased within the flower.

Looking awed, no one spoke and waited silently for something exciting to happen


	4. prophecies

Prophecies 

Thick black smoke began appearing in the small clearing. Everyone began to cough. Stalking through the smoke, unaffected, Persephone reached in an grabbed a black-robed man out of the smoke by his ear. " and here..comes my dear "hubby" showing up right on schedule, but hun, the performance was a bit off today and personally I think it does nothing to help your appearance." Stated Persephone while slapping her husband, Hades on the chest, a little too hard for his liking.

Hades was a well-built man, but not in the muscular and handsome sort of way. He was dark-skinned, olive skinned to accurate, (most of the god/esses were olive skinned), with dark hair, slicked back into a very un-handsome hairdo. Let's just say his face wasn't exactly super model type.

"Hey! Ow they hurt, now don't get frisky just yet, I'm here to discuss matters", stated Hades while Persephone rolled her eyes at his remarks. "And what 'matters' would these be? Hmm does it have to do with the Muses' child?" "Yes, yes it does have to do with the child! Wow Persep, you're really getting the hang of this 'thinking' thing. Anyway, I have heard from the Fates that this very child..will have powers, beyond Zeus, be more beautiful then Aphrodite, and strong then Hercules…so naturally, I should raise her as my own, then make her my wife..to 'control', only someone like me could do that..right?"

"Oh no! Hold up bucko, we're not that dumb" Hera yelled at Hades.

_Personally, I wouldn't mind having someone else around that hell-hole, I'm not jealous that Hades wants the child, heck I don't even want Hades, but I can't let him have her, him in possession and influencing that great of a power…..would be disastrous. _Though Persephone.

Everyone was arguing amongst themselves. All of the sudden a second 'puff' of sickly green smoke filled the clearing.

"...?" Hera screamed at the top of her lungs. "This clearing is too full! We might all die from the smoke..gosh people!".

Everyone stopped and waited for someone to emerge from the smoke. Apollo, already knowing who was behind the veil of smoke, started to walk forward, unbothered.

Emerging from the smoke, a pretty, sort of young mortal moved gracefully towards Apollo. Everyone gasped. This was Apollo's mortal oracle! If she came to us..then something great will be foretold!

Dancing gracefully towards him, the Oracle stopped in front of him and opened her mouth. Out from her mouth came a wisp of smoke. All of the sudden, a resounding voice echoed in everyone's head, realizing that this was the voice of the oracle, then withdrew their hands from their ears and concentrated on the voice.

"_I am the spirit of the first Oracle, Delphi, and the Oracle of the great god Apollo, the slayer of the mighty Python. I am here to tell you of the child. The child will be great; her power will be alone for her to yield. Listen carefully because this prophecy will affect you all:_

_There will be one of nine_

_Challenged by the heart, mind and soul_

_The power she will behold will quietten the greatest beast_

_And awaken the fire in the smallest creature_

_She alone will stand_

_A journey the One will endure_

_Until Harmony comes on the Echo of Dove's gentle wing_

Staring around at each other, pandemonium broke out at once, everyone clamoring towards her. All of the sudden, the Oracle became the mortal girl once more, (when the Oracle is no longer possessing the mortal, even though they share bodies, the mortal will become normal again).

"Raven! Are you alright?" Apollo inquired the mortal/Oracle. (raven is the mortal name of the Oracle, the Oracle possesses a different mortal every hundred years). Opening her bright green eyes, Raven sat up, her waist-length black hair waiving in the breeze. "I-I must..g-go now!" disappearing in another wisp of green smoke, Raven left the clearing.

Glancing around, everyone had just noticed that the child-in-the-flower was gone! Unbeknownst to anyone, Artemis had slipped away on her great silver wolf, with the child.


	5. valentine's day

Valentine's day

Sighing softly, Echo crossed her ankles together and pulled at her long hair. _Why can __everyone__ get a date for the Valentine 's Day dance __except__ for me? Maybe I'm just took ugly…._ "Oh what? Oh hi Angel..and I see she's with you" she said disdainfully. _I don't like his girlfriend she's sort of a slut. But I guess that's what he likes._ " So…how are you today Marcy?" "I'm fine and how are you Echo? You're looking a little lonely", Marcy said while smirking. "What haven't found a date for the dance? Well I guess there are plenty more sophomores who would be _dying_ to go with you, but you'll have to pick…through those" she laughed while pointing out the nerdy perverts in the corner. " HAHA very funny and no I have a date!". I insisted. " Where is he then? Hiding over there with the nerds?" Marcy said while wrapping her arms around Angel's waist. "Well I have a date don't I?" she kissed Angel and Echo looked away pointedly. When Angel had "resurfaced", he gave Echo a sheepish grin as if to say; _it's not my fault that you're lonely._

_One of these days I'm going to get her….and actually I was asked out a lot! It's just for some reason…..the people who ask me out forget that they did after a day or two…_

Echo and Angel had been best friends for their whole 15 year lives, and in Angel's case; 16 though Echo was almost 16 also. They had met in preschool on the, fateful first day. It was actually quite funny, how they met. Angel was crying because the bird had stolen his sandwich and Echo ran over and hugged him. They were inseparable..until Angel got interested in girls and found out that they didn't have cooties. Angel's full name is Angelus, but everyone calls him Angel. Also, Echo was not..well, Echo's real name. her real name is προικισμένος-ένα, or proikisménos-éna, in the English form. Her name meant "gifted-one". She had no idea why no one called her that, (and she could see why, the name was confusing)

Anyway, they were everything to each other; brother and sister, best friends, confidants, Echo was Angel's first kiss and crush, and the same went for Echo. Now, they were just best friends and also brother and sister. Despite Angel's protectiveness of her and her obvious loneliness, Echo was always being asked out, she was quite beautiful. She had long slightly curly dark brown hair, she had a light tan complexion with perfect skin and violet and golden flecked eyes. She wasn't a girly girl; that was one thing she wasn't, she absolutely loved to dirt bike, and was sort of a dare devil. She had a tattoo of a golden snake with green eyes wrapping around her wrist and traveling up her hand; she'd had it for as long as she could remember. Guys were actually clamoring for her, but something always turned out wrong; her first date caught on fire, her second broke his leg and so on. Angel was also very handsome and, if not more handsome then most of the guys at the school. Girls were vying for his attention and half of them already had Marcy on their death lists. He wasn't the usual football jock popular; he was a more…of the skater type and was oddly sort of preppy. With dark brown hair, piercing green eyes, a smooth complexion, striking, with high cheekbones he struck the mischievous side of the two, with his devious smile. Girls were suckers for him and his gentle side . They were also jealous of Echo because she was so close to him. He also had a diamond studded earring and a matching tattoo like Echo's (he got a matching one to symbolize their closeness).

Angel was not in a club; whereas I was one of the leaders of the Drama and singing club. The school's Drama/ singing club was called "The High Life". Echo just called it the "stars" for short. I was an amazing singer, and her regular speaking voice had a musical lilt to it, it captured the attention of everything within a radius of a mile….figuratively speaking. It charmed everyone who heard it, and they fell under almost a trace like state. I didn't do this on purpose, but of course, it had come in handy once or twice…

_ Today is tryouts for A Midsummer Night's Dream, I don't want to get the leading roll this time, I want to let someone else take a turn. I don't get the lead role on purpose, I don't even try, but Mr. Weller insists. And…oh I wish Angel would just walk away and take Marcy away. We've been enemies since she tried to color my face in first grade. Ughhh so so SO annoying._

"And we'll have matching colors and you will buy me my dress of course, the usual, you know? Then we'll take pictures and I'll make sure that ours get in the yearbook….we are going to be the best couple there and will be voted as Mr. and Ms. Valentine!" Marcy went on and on and on about all the stupid details she had been "planning".

_They've been together for only 2 months! How can Angel take her seriously? Ms. Presidential will have to scoot with the boot if he dumps her._

"WHAT? Oh hehe sorry Angel, was just.. 'lost in thought'. Anywho..what color dress are you going to get Marcy?" Echo asked, being polite.

"Wow are you really asking me? Well I wanted to tell someone anyway. I thought I would buy a pink dress with flowers on it."

-gigglesnort- "what ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ECHO? You don't even have a date, oh wait you DO, so you say. Oh I forgot to ask you! What's his name?"

"Oh, his name is Spike", I lied. "Yeah, Spike is his name, I met him the other day at the mall when I was waiting for my food. We started going out and stuff and I asked him, he said he would be cool with it".

Angel looked at me skeptically as if to say _"You never mentioned anything about this boy before". _I shook my head sharply, trying not to lead Marcy on. He just shrugged and took Marcy away. Marcy sauntered away still yapping about her plans.


	6. Just another day

Just Another Day

Coming home from school, I threw my bag down on the floor and plopped down on the couch. Flipping on the T.V., I couldn't find anything so I settled on the Discovery channel. Oh gosh I was lame. Pulling out my phone, I texted Angel, _Where are you? Oh wait let me guess, with MARCY? Damn you Angel you're attached to her hip!_

Waiting for a reply, I danced my way to the kitchen and pulled an apple out of the fridge. My parents were never home, my mom, Ella, had remarried about 5 years back. I had never knew my true father, but Ella said he was the perfect Prince Charming. His name was Charles, that's all I knew. Ella's new husband, Louis, (whom Echo called loser behind his back), was not the best person. He was perfect for Ella-I mean mom, but he was always trying to be the father I never had. They were both veterinarians, (the career choice I wanted to follow), but they were never home. They owned their own building for their job and even had rooms there. They didn't worry about my grades, I was naturally smart and could handle myself just fine at home.

Upon hearing a buzzing sound in the living room, which announced the arrival of the text message, I took my time getting to the room. If Angel had no time anymore, she wouldn't have time for him either. Plopping back down on the couch, I pulled her phone out of the cushions in the couch. Opening it, I read:

_Do you always have to be so snappy? What's with the attitude, I was going to come over, and just for the record I'm not with Marcy, she had cheerleading practice. Can I come over?_

Before I could type the first letter of my answer, I heard a loud crashing noise outside. My house was by the woods, and if I didn't mention before, we lived in San Juan, Washington (an island), and my house was on the edge of a rainy rainforest. Our house was on the island next to the "famous Twilight-the-movie island" (no this is actually true). Looking outside the window, I didn't see anything so I decided to step outside. Creaking open the door, I stepped outside, unafraid. Peering around the corner of out large house, I looked into the woods. Nothing was there. Besides there were only deer on this island, nothing dangerous, It must've been a deer.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling and saw a human figure dart away deeper into the woods. I slowly slipped back inside the house, terrified and wondered why someone would come to my house. Everyone on the island was friendly, mostly…..and no one stole.

I texted Angel rapidly, my fingers flying furiously over the keys to tell him to hurry.

_Angel..I think you should hurry. There was a large crash outside my house and I went to investigate. I saw..what I think was a human run away. Please hurry here!_

The joyous noise of the beeping rung through the air not but 15 seconds later.

_Are you ok? I'm coming now. Do not go outside of the house I'll look around before I come in I'm actually 2 minutes away._

Echo hated it when people treated her like a child, but she stayed put. The door rang about 3 minutes later, and Angel stood outside of the doorway. I thought it was one of the best things I've seen, I felt safe now. His dark hair was swept up from the wind and his piercing green eyes searched my violet ones.

Darting through the door, he swept me up in a hug. "Are you sure you're ok? I checked around the house and near the edge of the woods. I didn't see anything that had fallen that could've made the noise. You're safe come on lets go do something else."

Sighing, I pulled away from his embrace. Ok, I had a teeny crush on my best friend, but that's natural, right?

"yeah, you're right, come on, let's watch something".

We sat down next to each other and I put my head in his lap. Angel was comfortable with how close we were, I was a little sister to him. He covered us with a blanket and put in a scary movie, one of my favorites, The Grudge. I didn't pay any attention though, and I thought about what I had told Marcy. _What am I going to do when I show up to the dance without a date, much less the Spike I talked about. Why am I so lonely? Everyone tells me that I'm beautiful, but I'm so lonely. If it wasn't for Angel, I 'm not sure what I'd do._

"Are you crying Isi?" (he called me this because that was part of my first name and he was the only teenager who knew my real name).

"Oh, no….". Wiping my eyes, I realized that my face was soaked with tears. Pulling me up, Angel looked into my eyes. "What's wrong Isi? Did someone hurt you?", he demanded with a dangerous glint in his eye. "No, no it's not that I was just wondering, am I always going to be lonely? Look at you! You have Marcy, everyone says that I'm beautiful..which I don't believe anyway.. but I'm so alone, I have you, and that's not a bad thing, but I want someone who will love me. my Parents are constantly gone, I don't have any friends who I can go shopping with…"

"You are beautiful, and who ever doesn't think that must need to get their eyes fixed, and I would go shopping with you if I wasn't so busy", Angel told me reassuringly. "You are perfect, just what every guy must want, I would know because you're my best friend!". Wiping my face dry, he kissed my forehead gently, in a friend-sort-of-way, though I wished it wasn't. He held me and whispered "Everything will be alright", over and over again, until I drifted off into the darkness.


	7. Transfer

Transfer

Pulling up at school, Angel got out and opened my door for me. Laughing, we strode up Friday Harbor High and climbed the many steps of the public high school. Suddenly, my History partner, Becci ran up to me. She was gushing and actually….looked….glowing. "O-M-G did you see the new guy Echo? Oh my GAWD he is such an-"

"Wait slow the F down. What are you talking about?", I demanded. " You mean you haven't seen him? Oh you so missed it girl, he's eye-candy. He just transferred from another school, no one knows which. There are rumors going around that he killed someone because he has a lot of scars on his arms. He even has a tattoo! Omg just like you! Maybe you two will know each other and you could introduce me-" Becci ranted.

We drowned her out, uninterested. Once, Angel had come to the school and he was considered "eye-candy". It still never wore off completely but, everyone was gushing anymore. Angel and I exchanged glances. We knew this would be over before the day ended. Walking up the rest of the steps, we rounded the large pillar. Becci had just run off. I had no idea why. But then I knew. I saw who she was talking about.

He was tall, not basketball player kind of tall. He had black hair which was layered and had..the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. They were as bright as Angel's except that they were the most aquamarine blue I had ever seen. He was well-developed..but who was looking at that? My gaze returned to his eyes and I realized that I had been staring at him.

I looked to the left and saw Angel standing taller and calling my name. Snapping his fingers in front of my eyes he tried to wake me from my trance. Then, the boy turned around sauntered off with a walk that hinted at arrogance.

"What? I'm listening what the hell do you need?" _gosh, what was his problem?_

" Um excuse me, I was just trying to save you from embarrassment, you were staring with your jaw hinged off". Huffing, he walked away. Then. The rest of the day dragged on..and on… finally, it was time for my AP math (trig). Lethargically dragging myself into class, I sat down on my chair. Then, I almost had a heart attack.

Looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw _him. Oh I sound like Becci now._ Pretending to be uninterested, I slouched in my seat and covered my face with my hair."Echo? E-c-h-o hello dear, can you hear me? We have a new student, Zane. He doesn't know what we're covering now, could you please go in the back room and help him? You're my most advanced student. Please?" Ms. Harris asked politely. My heart thumping wildly, I turned around slowly. He was standing behind me, putting his wait on one foot and crossing his arms. I again got the vibe of arrogance. Snatching my things up, I walked into Ms. Harris's adjoining room and she followed behind us then locked the door so we would have privacy.

"Hello, my name is Zane". He spoke, and his voice was the most beautiful I have ever heard. Too beautiful for a human. His voice sounded like waves crashing on the shore. I could listen to it all day. " So….Hi I guess? How are you?"

"Eh..Hi, my name is-" "Echo, I know your name. Such a beautiful name. reminds me of the tale of Echo and Narcissus". "yeah.." All I could do is stand there and nod like an idiot. "So are we going to gawk, or pretend to study and actually talk?" Blushing furiously, I said, " We could do the later if that's fine with you." Sitting as gracefully as I could, I yanked out the other chair for him and he swung onto it, moving too close for me to be comfortable with. I scooted away gently to help him get the message.

"So, your name is Zane?" _obviously. _"yeah, and yours is Echo? _I don't really like him, he makes me feel weak. _"Yup, and so, I heard you transferred". Cocking an eyebrow, he raised it at me as if to say _how do you know that?_ I didn't answer, Becci would meet him later and he would know. "Everyone calls me Cobra, but you can call me Spike" he said with a slow wink. _How does he know? Was he here yesterday and heard what I told Marcy?_ "so where did you come from…Cobra?" "Spike, you call me Spike". "OK, Spike it is then, where did you transfer from Spike?" " I came from New York, I moved because my father got a job here. He's a director. "Oh, how cool! My mom and Louis are veterinarians..which would be cool if they came home once and a while" I grumbled. "I'm sorry that you don't see them often. I don't ever see my mother, she died" he said gently "I'm sorry..my dad died, well we understand each other". Trying not to look him in the eyes I comforted him. "I like your tattoo", I said, pointing to his tattoo wrapping around his wrist which was a crown of thorns. " I like yours also, yours is a Cobra, if I'm correct?" "yeah, I have no idea how, but I've had it for as long as I can remember. My friend, Angel got a matching one" " oh is that the guy who you were standing with this morning? Is he your boyfriend or something?" " nope, I don't have a boyfriend-Angel is my best-friend. Yeah, I'm as lonely as an apple in a basket of grapes. Welcome to Friday Harbor High by the way, I hope you like it here. And if you don't mind me asking, how did you get your scars?" " yeah, I'll save that story for another time" he said, patting my hand and then moved away. "I like it so far, it's a pretty cool place, but I have to say talking with you has been the most fun of all, and if I might say, you voice is simply musical..it has a lilt to it, very..very distracting" coughing, I stood up as the bell rang and pushed the door open. "Bye Echo, maybe I'll see you later." I stood gazing out the door as he swept past me.


	8. Can I Walk You Home?

"Can I Walk you Home?"

The school bell rang. I stepped off from the last step and headed towards the sidewalk to start walking home. A storm loomed dangerously overhead as I started to set off at a brisk jog. Upon reaching the first tree at the edge of the forest, I felt a hand grab my shoulder. Jumping 5 feet in the air, I covered my hand with my mouth and stifled a cry. Zane-spike-cobra had grabbed my shoulder. I sighed in relief, and was wondering how I had thought that was a bear even though we don't have bears here.

"Hey Echo, can I walk you home?", the beautiful voice asked. Shaking the daze out of myself, I told him that was fine as long as he explained how he got his scars.

"That's a long story, as I'm sure I've mentioned before." He insisted on not telling me. " Well, we have plenty of time, but I respect your choice, instead we can talk." He threw an arm around my shoulders and guided me down the sidewalk, " we're going to be the best of chums aren't we?" he asked in a cute way. "sure, just sure" I mumbled, secretly wondering how I could be so attracted and be so mean to him at the same time.

" So, I think we're getting to know each other so much that I hope you feel comfortable with me calling you Flower don't you?"

"FLOWER? What kind of nickname is that? It makes me sound all delicate and soft, I would like a stronger nickname that suits me" I stomped my foot on the ground and demanded for a re-vote.

" well, you are most certainly not delicate, but you are soft", he said and stroked my cheek. I shivered in the cold and slapped his hand away. " could you mind my bubble please? Don't pop my bubble, only Angel does that."

"Oh, so only Angelus can hold you or take care of you, doesn't he have his own girlfriend to love? Can't you stop being so lonely and get a boyfriend of your own? Then you won't have to rely on him!" he yelled at me, and I got the feeling like I wanted to cry. I stomped off in the direction of home and left him standing there. He caught up to me and held my elbow. " I'm sorry, I just don't like seeing you hang onto Angelus when you could have someone who wants you."

"I just met you TODAY! I don't even know your middle name!" I yelled back, giving him some fiery spirit to show that I wasn't no flower. " I'm sorry, I'm sorry" he apologized over and over again. "So since you pointed out the fact that we don't know each other's full name, why don't we start with that. If I tell you my real (and full) name, you will tell me yours…alright?" I resultantly agreed, nobody knew my name except for Angel, but maybe that would change.

"OK, so my full name is Zane Cobra Aden silver. Yours is?" _wow, he has a long name. _" so that's where you get the Cobra from your name." " stop stalling", he demanded. " fine" I said, sighing. " only Angel and my parents of course know my true name. well, here is the big secret, Echo is not my real name, it's my middle name". I waited for a gasp or some other indication that he was surprised. Nothing came, so I continued on. " my real name is proikisménos-éna Echo Aster Sterling. I'm so ashamed of my first name, no one can say it, and they get it confused."

"Proikisménos-éna", he repeated perfectly. " It means the 'gifted-one' if I am correct in my Greek?" " Wow! Yeah that's what it means! How did you know?" " I'm skilled at many things, one of them is the language of Greece. I like your name, do you mind if I call you Isi? Well no, I guess not, you don't seem to mind anything I do."

_We're back with the arrogance. One moment he's nice, the next he's mean. Wait how did he know to call me Isi? That's Angel's nickname for me! I wonder if he's been spying._ I let the fact that Angel called me that, go, and I let him call me Isi. " Sounds good".

" Oh we're here at your house, are your parents home?" Zane inquired. " No, if you were listening, I had said before that they're never home". "Can I come in?" " S..ure." I opened the door and he stepped into the house.


	9. Invitation

Invitation

"I hope you don't mind the apparent mess, I never have time to clean it up."

No answer.

"Zane? Where are yo-"

"Here, I'm in here." The answer came from deep within hallways of the house. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at your pictures. Are you sure that your mother is your biological mother? You don't look anything alike." "Yeah, people tend to say that but I'm pretty sure she's my biological mother, I haven't known anyone else to be. Come on, we can have something to eat. Zane, I feel like I know you already, I've just met you today but, the more the merrier I believe the saying goes." Walking in the kitchen, I pulled out some eggs and stuck some toast in the toaster. "Zane, are you fine with eggs and toast, I don't really have anything else." I called into the hallway.

_He's still standing in the same spot. WHOA_

"Don't scare me like that! " "Heh, like what, who knew you got spooked so easily. So…what do you want to do now?" he backed me slowly up against the wall and leaned towards me. "The eggs!" "what? The eggs? That's all you can think of is eggs?" "no, I left the eggs on the burner, I hope they're not burnt."

They were really burnt, but we just decided to eat them, holes and all.

"So, homework time, we can do it-I mean not it but our homework…on the couch. Yeah, over there." There are two couches, I was secretly hoping that he would sit next to me, but a girl can only hope so much. Then, he sat next to me. I pretended not to notice and pulled my books out.

He gently set my books down. "Let's talk about something else. For example, how did you get your real name?" "First I'll ask you some questions. Who else do you live with then your father?" "it's just me and him" "ok….so, I think you might've told me that but…I answer your question now. I got my name because I am gifted. And no, not 'gifted' in a mean way, but I am gifted in the musical arts. I am the head of the drama club, I can sing really well, I can act and I'm smart..btu I wasn't bragging or anything."

"I have to agree, but the main thing is you're very very beautiful." I shut my mouth. He leaned towards me and I didn't move away. He pressed his lips to mine.

It was passion.

Heat

Love

Then it ended

"I have to go…I'm sorry we were having so much fun. I hope you don't mind if I pick you up tomorrow. Ok then…." I snapped my mouth shut as he walked out the door.

I couldn't wait for tomorrow.


End file.
